Knowing 7-1-2013

Knowing

Knowing is half the battle

The battle for yourself.

Knowing your worth,

The beautiful you inside,

Screaming to come out

But at times afraid.

Afraid of the words and thoughts

Of people you don't even know.

Knowing is half the battle

That no one's words or thoughts Matter,

Only you, you alone.

Knowing is half the battle

Of when to stand tall,

When you feel so very, very small.

We can break free

To be the you and me,

To be strong,

To be our own person.

Knowing is half the battle.

By Paula Contreas

Solitude 2-4-2014

It's quiet,

densely quiet.

The only sound is the crunch

as I take a step.

I just want to  be at rest,

and keep the quiet, still.

Take in the silence 

and contemplate on my life.

And the simpleness 

That everything can be,

If we just let it.

By Paula Contreras

Contempt May 11 2013

I breathe in a deep breath 

And exhale a deep heavy sigh.

My view of your world,

Has been corrupted by your lies.

It once was of a

Perfect little world.

You've replaced it with

Emotional horrors.

I loved you so

Looked up to you.

You've replaced that with

A totally different view.

The alcoves of my

Heart are burned

My mind a

Torrential blur.

You've treated your children

As mere spawn.

Not holding them dear

As treasures to look upon.

I’m done,

My heart is over it

No going back

Or hanging in suspense

To see if your

Wretched heart

Would overcome it.

I see the truth,

It’s black and white

You’re never changing

I must cut you out

Like a blight.

Youth Fade 4-3-2013

Youth Fade

I am old and fading,

My petals wilt away.

My makeup looks

Like war paint,

It looks old

And stained.

But within me

Still is beauty.

Just look and 

You will see.

Not far behind is glory,

Wisdom there is too.

The years I've lived

They show.

Like a worn out

Well read book.

But one that 

Was well loved

Open up and take 

A look.

P. Contreras

Cherry Blossoms 3-28-2013

Cherry Blossoms

Pink puffs on a branch

Pop like popcorn with color

The sweet smell waifs through

The air and hits me!

The Bee's love it too

They buzz endlessly around.

The sight, the smell, the sound

feels me with a feeling 

Of complete peace.

Quietly walking through

The Cherry Blossoms.

The Boardwalk 2-25-2013

The Boardwalk

Walking the boardwalk

My man and me,

Enjoying the sights

And sounds of the Sea.

Slowly and quickly 

They float on by

Skaters and bicyclists

On the fly.

Not a care in the World

No, not even one

Simply enjoying

Their day in the sun.

The Sun it slowly

Descends in the sea

The two of us left

With our memories.

Thankful for that,
I can not be more
Enjoying with bliss
Our day at the shore.

P. Contreras

A Tree 2-19-2013

A Tree


My arms are weaving heavenward,
My roots are planted firm.
My leaves are catching all the sun,
Within my roots are worms.


Come sit yourself upon a limb,
And rest a while here.
Breathe in all of nature,
And into magic peer.


I can be an Octopus,
You the buccaneer.
Riding waves and pillaging,
Until the shore you hear.


Now I 'm a regal castle,
Walls of mighty mortar.
Keeping you safe against the dragon,
Who is a fire snorter.


100 hundred feet into the sky,
Here the giant lives.
Save the golden goose,
And an egg she will then give.


I am more than just a tree,
Especially to a child.
Come and sit beneath my shade,
Remember youth..
And smile.

P. Contreras

The Rebirth of Earth November 2, 2012

The Rebirth of Earth

Softly, softly, I float to the ground
All of my siblings lost are now found.
Gathering here on the ground below
Waiting to be covered by a blanket of snow.

Fall is fading fast and winter it bleeds
It's blanket covering both color and seeds.
Only to bed we are just now
Waiting for spring to let us endow,

Our colors once more upon the earth, 
Holding in the soil all of our rebirth.
Don't mourn, we will not be long,
Soon we'll be back our colors so strong.

P.Contreras

Coffee November 1, 2012

Coffee in the fall!

It's cold outside but warm in here

As the cup to my lips is near.

Breathing in the aroma fresh

Goosebumps appear on my flesh.

Slowly sipping the liquid gold

My body is no longer cold.

P. Contreras

Woman December 11, 2012

Woman

She is resilient!
Hardy and Beautiful.
Her Grace and fragile looks
Belie her Strength
To overcome.  

She Is Woman

P. Contreras

We Know not our Time! 12-28-2012

We Know not our Time!

The new is here for now,

Not to stay because soon

It too will be old.

Enjoy it just the same and 

Treasure the time you have,

For we know not our time!

Roll down a hill of grass,

And drink lemon-aid.

Laugh until your belly hurts,

Just because you can!

Smile at a stranger

And make your own day.

We know not our time,

So Live!


P. Contreras

  

Hope Street

 All along Hope Street

The boxes are full.

The people wait patiently

To see what they've received.

Boxes full of hope for love,

Boxes full of hope for life,

And Boxes full of hope 

for the future.

We never know 

What our box will hold,

Until we open it.

Open yours and 

Have some Hope!

P. Contreras

The Mirror on the Wall 10-23-2012

The Mirror on the Wall

The mirror on the wall,

It does not see it all.

Deep down into the core,

The beauty, there is much more.

It does not see the pain,

And the wisdom you have gained.

It can see the wrinkle in time,

But not the laughter that defined.

It only see's the outside,

Not the you that's really there.

It doesn't see the warm

Embrace that's waiting 

for you to share.

It can not see the smile

That is hidden beneath your skin.

The failures you have had,

Or even the wins.

The anger that is deep

And threatens to seep.

It only see's the cover,

Not the story hid beneath!

  P. Contreras

Flights of Freedom 9-24-2012

Juvenile Black-Crowned Heron

I am beauty in the
Eye of my beholder,
I am strong and free.
They wish that they could
Fly and 
Spread their wings like me.
I have no bounds to hold me,
I go wherever I want.
And if I should 
Need some sustenance,
I simply go and hunt.

I am beauty in the 
Eye of my beholder.
They are jealous tis true,
They wish they had
This simple life
Soaring in the open blue.

P. Contreras

The Shadow 9-20-2012

I am tired, but I'm wide awake
I wish that I could sleep,
The thoughts are running through
my mind, running oh so deep!
I have thoughts, thoughts you see,
of things I think you did.
When fairy tales should have been mine
and I was just a kid.
The images of running through fields,
Flowers slipping through my hands.
Are replaced with images of
A dark and troubled man.
I push them out, but they come back
Bleeding through my brain.
My heart is heavy, oh so heavy
filled with angst and pain..
I hate you for these memories
forced on me when oh so young.
They're thoughts that tumble
through my mind
and can never be undone.
I'm searching for a peaceful dream
filled with sanctity.
Help me wipe them from my thoughts
So sleep can come to me.

                        P. Contreras

Invisible 9-5-2012

Invisible

I live in an invisible world, 

It is my invisible world.

A world I have made because

I don't stand up for myself.

I don't make myself important.

Everyone else is more important than me

And now, I am invisible.

I look into the mirror and 

I do not see me, I see someone else.  

I am invisible.

Where am I, 

She left years ago to raise children

And to keep a husband.

Her dreams are gone, but hopefully

Not forgotten.

I hope soon she will show herself to me,

And become visible once again.

                       P. Contreras 

Flying 8-15-2012

Flying

Floating, dipping, gliding,
I feel so light and airy.

lifted up and weightless
I go without a care.

My mind is free,
My body benign.

I'm floating away,
More dreams to find.

No troubles do I have,
My cares are simply none.

In my dreams I'm flying
And every battle I have won!

                        P. Contreras

Mother Bear August 2012

He's not perfect, I know this in my mind
But in my heart, he is nothing less.

He shares all the little idiosyncrasies
that I have carried for so long.

Inheriting not just the good,
but the bad and annoying.

With all this, I know still
that the best part is his heart.

For unlike others he see's with
his heart not his eye's.

And judges not even those
who try to judge him.

I am biased I know, but I am
Mother Bear.

Do not harm him with hands
or words for fear,
that I will come and my claws I will show.

Loudly they will proclaim
that he is mine
and I am Mother Bear.

                  P. Contreras

In the Meadow of Life 1989

In the Meadow of Life

In the Meadow of Life
The large tree was beautiful and strong looking, sinewy with knots that bulged here and there.
His branches were growing in a symmetric way that gave him a look of grandeur.
The smaller tree stood beside it living in the shade and strength that the larger tree provided.
They grew there side by side leaning this way and that with the wind, growing closer and closer.
The grass was green beneath their branches and when their leaves did fall, they fell softly to the thick grass below.
His trunk was solid and his branches reached down to embrace the smaller tree.
Their leaves move this way and that and their limbs are entwined.
Her every branch reaches up to him and when he touches her it is as if her leaves have been rustled by a warm wind.
Their roots are intertwined and become one, that can never be undone.

                         P. Contreras

Death By Chocolate 8-5-2012

Death By Chocolate

It has been two long days
And no chocolate in sight.
I was craving it bad
And there wasn't a bite.

I had looked in the cupboards,
I had looked in the fridge.
If I didn't have it soon
It would be a big binge.

Madly I drove
Today to the store
To pick up some
Chocolate, and a little bit more.

Running the isles
To fill up my list,
I can't forget isle six
Or the chocolate I'll miss.

On my way home the
Chocolate I eye,
I must have a piece
Or I think I will die.

One hand on the wheel
And one on the bar,
I struggle to open it
While driving the car.

My attention is elsewhere
And not on the street.
I must have this concoction,
I must have this sweet.

I swerve the car
To just miss another
I've realized now
That I must recover.

I really don't want my
Epitaph to read,
"Death by Chocolate,
She just had the need".

           P. Contreras